Team

Research Group Leader

Xenia Kobeleva is an expert in neurodegenerative diseases and computational brain modelling, and works at the intersection of medical research, computer science, and clinical practice. She is an assistant professor in Neurostimulation at Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), group leader of RUB’s Computational Neurology Group, and senior physician at the Department of Neurology of the RUB University Hospital Knappschafskrankenhaus. She identifies as a true translational neuroscientist, attaining research questions from the bedside, studying them in the lab, and bringing computational solutions and digital twin technologies back to the bedside.

For more information on Xenia Kobeleva, please see her personal page.

Dr. Nikolai Syrov

Postdoctoral Associate

Nikolay Syrov joined the Computational Neurology Group as a postdoctoral researcher in 2025. He currently works on developing state-dependent personalized neurostimulation approaches aimed at efficiently modulating brain activity. He obtained his PhD in Physiology in 2022 from Lomonosov Moscow State University, where his research focused on brain-computer interfaces for motor rehabilitation. Following his doctorate, he studied mechanisms of action preparation and led projects investigating neuromarkers of sensorimotor network impairments after stroke, extensively employing EEG, fNIRS, and TMS techniques.

Dr. Mike Wilbert

Postdoctoral Associate

Mike Wilbert joined the Computational Neurology Group as a postdoctoral researcher in 2026. He holds a PhD in theoretical physics, in which he developed numerical methods and high-performance simulation codes to investigate complex plasma systems. His research interests lie at the intersection of mathematical modelling, scientific computing, and machine learning. In his current work, he develops computational approaches for personalized brain modelling, with a particular focus on hybrid whole-brain models and digital twins that integrate mechanistic simulations with patient-specific neuroimaging data.

Riccardo Catena

PhD Candidate

Riccardo Catena joined the Computational Neurology Group as a PhD candidate in 2026. Transitioning from biomedical engineering to computational neuroscience, he previously researched neuronal structural plasticity at the Bernstein Center Freiburg and excitation-inhibition balance at the University of Lübeck. In his research, he utilizes whole-brain neural mass models to investigate how cognitive states and pathologies (e.g. Alzheimer's disease) alter brain dynamics, with the goal of better informing neurostimulation protocols.

Frederick Trefz

PhD Candidate

Frederick Trefz is a PhD student and joined the Computational Neurology Group in 2026. He holds a master's degree in Artificial Intelligence from Radboud University Nijmegen, where he used genetic programming to automate the discovery of governing equations in neuroscience. In his PhD, he aims at improving quantitative models of brain dynamics by focusing on simulation-based inference and neural mass models.

Shoto Yamada

PhD Candidate

Shoto Yamada is a PhD candidate at Ruhr University Bochum, co-supervised by Prof. Dr. Xenia Kobeleva and Prof. Dr. Robert Schmidt. He joined the Computational Neurology Group in late 2024, following his Master's thesis project that was also supervised by Prof. Kobeleva. Shoto holds a Master's degree in Cognitive Science from Ruhr University Bochum and focuses on the development and application of probabilistic machine learning techniques for the analysis of electrophysiology data. Currently, he is working on developing a Bayesian Hidden Markov Model to detect transient oscillations, contributing to advancements in understanding neural dynamics.

Franziska-Maria Fuchs

MD Candidate

Franziska-Maria Fuchs is a student of medicine at the University of Bonn and joined the Computational Neurology Group in 2023 for pursuing her doctoral thesis. She accompanies a clinical trial in the field of the hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSP), in which she investigates the treatment outcome of transcranial magnetic stimulation on patients suffering from HSP.

Briand Qeriqi

MD Candidate

Briand Qeriqi is a student of medicine at Ruhr University Bochum and joined the Computational Neurology Group in 2023 for pursuing his doctoral thesis. He conducts clinical-experimental research in the field of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), utilizing imaging techniques such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and brain modeling tools.

Robin Rademacher

MD Candidate

Robin Rademacher is a student of medicine at Ruhr University Bochum and joined the Computational Neurology Group in 2025 for pursuing his doctoral thesis. He investigates age-related alterations in neurophysiological correlates of visual working memory, recording cortical activity via electroencephalography (EEG) during different stages of the memory process and utilizing transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of frontal cortical regions to modulate memory characteristics in young and older adults.

Skyla Schmidt

Student research assistant

Skyla Schmidt completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology at Maastricht University and seeks to continue her studies with a Master's degree at Ruhr University Bochum. In 2025, she joined the Computational Neurology Group as a student research assistant for Dr. Nikolai Syrov's study on state-dependent personalized neurostimulation.

Rui Zhao

Student research assistant

Rui Zhao joined the Computational Neurology Group as a research assistant in 2026, supporting in the preparation and analysis of neuroimaging data. She currently pursues her Master's studies in Cognitive Science at Ruhr University Bochum, following undergraduate studies in Psychology at the University of Amsterdam. In her Master's thesis (supervised by Prof. Kobeleva), she uses whole-brain neural mass modelling to investigate how amyloid and tau influence brain network dynamics in Alzheimer's disease.

Sven Liebthal

Team Assistant

Sven Liebthal is the Computational Neurology Group's team assistant. After completing a commercial apprenticeship, he studied Economics with a focus on Logistics and then worked in this profession for over ten years in the private sector before joining Ruhr University Bochum. He greatly adds to the group by bringing in and applying his economic and managerial expertise.

Alumni

• Pegah Majlessi (Master's student and undergraduate research assistant, 2024-2025)
• Dr. Riccardo Leone (PhD Student, 2022-2025)
• Nahid Hasan (postgraduate research assistant, 2022-2023)
• Steven Geysen (postgraduate research assistant, 2022-2023)
• Julian Schulte (Master's student in 2021-2022, doctoral research assistant, 2022)
• Sobhan Moazemi (doctoral research assistant, 2020-2021)
• Dr. Julian Herrmann (medical doctoral student, 2017-2021)
• Maher Zoubi (medical doctoral student, 2017-2021)